Baikonur Stellar Initiative
The Baikonur Stellar Initiative, or BSI, is a Mega-conglomerate of the Market Coalition Trade Guild. BSI's trade is the construction of starships and starbases, and finds itself in competition with Jonson Space Dynamics Division and Acteon Shipbuilding Currents, hence its joining of an opposing trade guild in Year 149. While Acteon starships have more advanced automation, energy systems, and technology, Baikonur-built Warp drives are considered more reliable, more efficient, and less prone to damage. BSI has lead the way in advancing their design in general. In addition, Baikonur-built starships have a reputation for ruggedness and endurance, with atmospheric layers that are more resilient and superstructures that can withstand more severe punishment for longer. Some Baikonur designs are also well-regarded for their modular nature, imitating the Randi philosophy of starship architecture. Founding: The Baikonur Renaissance BSI differs from other megacorps in that it was part of a national effort to "return to the stars" by Kazakhstan. When interstellar travel turned out to not only be possible, but lucrative, the landlocked nation, with some foreign assistance, began an almost unified effort to revitalize Baikonur. Baikonur is the Kazakh name for the old deprecated Soviet launch facility, near the Aral Sea, and the town that was built around it. The Soviet name, "Zvezdograd" or 'Star City' more echoes the past, and for a time the term "Novi Zvezdograd" was used to remind citizens. Year 34 ushered in an era known today as the "Baikonur Renaissance" - the rebirth of the namesake facility. Kazakhstan's powerful and diverse economy, built around its wealth of natural resources - standing among world leaders in reserves of uranium, zinc, chromium, lead, manganese, copper, iron, gold, phosphorous, and diamonds. All resources that are critical in the construction of starships and other advanced technologies. Production yield of these minerals had increased by a factor of several times as Kazakhstan's vast oil reserves became irrelevant and the economy was forced to diversify over the centuries - the extended "Nurly Zhol" plan, which had already hoisted Kazakhstan into the world's top 25 economies. As such, the immense organization, expertise, and infrastructure surrounding mineral extraction was soon aimed towards the exploration and colonization of the stars, backed by the financial stimulus of the country and its neighbors - such as China's lucrative New Silk Road program, and assistance from Russia regarding the more technical issues which the Kazakhs could not resolve on their own. As the nation took these steps, private initiatives began to look in this direction as well - and in Year 91 an industrial magnate expanded into Baikonur and set in motion plans to construct Kazakhstan's first domestically produced-starship using the elevator and foundries that had been built in the intervening years since Year 34. Engineers soon began to compete for the winning design to be built, and refined their models through computer and scaled-down simulations. The nation's collective excitement was broken by Acteon's announcement of the Zanj-class Star Galleon the very next year. Excitement became demoralization as BSI realized none of the planned ship designs would be able to compete with the Zanj. BSI elected to scrap these designs and start over completely, in order to benefit from the design innovations made in the Zanj. In Year 94 the ASC Mombasa was launched in Earth's orbit and BSI made every effort to learn as much about the new starship as possible. Category:Megacorps